Dyslexia

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a language-based disability derived from differences in brain structure and brain function. Although dyslexia presents itself somewhat differently in each person, it has some common characteristics that can be determined through evaluation. You may find the following articles to be helpful:

• General Information About Dyslexia
• Common Signs of Dyslexia
• Dyslexia: Beyond the Myth

For further information visit the Reading Rockets website or contact The International Dyslexia Association.

I suspect my child might have dyslexia. What should I do?

It is important to address reading problems early so you can begin getting your child the appropriate help. The following articles describe characteristics common to students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. You may find it helpful to read these articles to determine if you see similar characteristics in your child:

• General Information About Dyslexia
• Common Signs of Dyslexia
• Dyslexia: Beyond the Myth
• How Do You Know If Your Child Might Have a Learning Disability?
• What Are the Early Warning Signs of Learning Disabilities?

If, after reading these articles, you still suspect your child is showing signs of having a learning disability, it is within your rights as a parent to request a free educational evaluation through your public school. Whether or not he is found eligible for special services, the evaluation will help determine your child�s academic strengths and weaknesses and how best he learns. The following articles describe the steps involved in the evaluation process, including your rights as a parent:

• Special Education: Evaluation
• Basics for Parents: Your Child�s Evaluation

After the evaluation process is completed, you can use the information from the evaluation to help you make a decision about the next step in your child's educational path.

How should I teach beginning reading to primary students with special needs?

Reading Rockets has a wealth of sound information about teaching children to read. Here are some articles that provide basic knowledge on this topic:

• Research-Based Principles for Improving the Reading Achievement of America’s Children
• School Features That Support Effective Instruction
• The Foundations for Reading
• The Top Ten Things You Should Know About Reading
• What Principals Can Do to Help Students Become Good Readers
• Knowledge and Skills for Teaching Reading
• The Need to Change the Way Children Are Taught to Read
• Reading 101
• Areas of Difficulty
• 9 Components of Effective, Research-Supported Reading Instruction
• 12 Components of Research-Based Reading Programs

Reading Rockets offers strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn to read. Its resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in working with struggling readers who require additional help in reading and comprehension skills development. Our sister website, Colorín Colorado, although designed for Spanish-speaking parents and educators of English language learners, also has excellent information for anyone interested in early reading instruction.

How common are language-based learning disabilities?

According to the International Dyslexia Asssociation and the Learning Disabilites Association of America, about 15% of the population (close to one in seven) has a learning disability. Of the students with learning disabilities receiving special education services, 70-80% have deficits in reading.

Luckily, there is plenty of information on how to address the needs of these children. More information on strategies to help children with learning disabilities is available on LD OnLine and Reading Rockets.

My child has a learning disability and I'm concerned that the reading program her school uses is ineffective. Can you recommend a reading program?

Although we don't review specific reading programs, the following articles outline the elements that all effective reading instruction contains. From these articles, you can see how your child’s reading program compares:

• 9 Components of Effective, Research-Supported Reading Instruction
• 12 Components of Research-Based Reading Programs
• A Scientific Approach to Reading Instruction
• Multisensory Structured Language Programs: Content & Principles of Instruction

This next article also lists characteristics of effective reading programs for students with learning disabilities and includes information and worksheets to help determine the quality of a specific reading program:

• What the Science Says: Effective Reading Interventions for Kids with Learning Disabilities

Also, the American Federation of Teachers published a report in 1999 called Building on the Best, Learning from What Works: Five Promising Remedial Reading Intervention Programs.

Have a meeting with your child's teachers so that you can share your concerns with them. Any reading remediation that she receives should be individualized to her specific needs, because no pre-packaged programs are able to address every child’s areas of weakness, strengths, and the instructional methods with which they learn best. You and your child's teachers should work together to ensure that her specific needs are being met. This may require an IEP meeting to develop a new IEP with more skill-specific educational goals and objectives.

I have a student who has trouble blending phonemes. Any suggestions?

Mastering phonemes is the gateway to reading. Though some children begin recognizing sound-symbol patterns just through exposure to books, many children need direct instruction in this area. The following articles may give you some good ideas for helping your student:

• Phonological Awareness: Instructional and Assessment Guidelines
• Phonics and Word Recognition Instruction in Early Reading Programs: Guidelines for Accessibility
• How Now Brown Cow: Phoneme Awareness Activities for Collaborative Classrooms
• Tuning In to the Sounds in Words
• Beginning Reading

How do I find a tutor for my dyslexic child?

There are several national organizations that may be able help you through this process and give local professional referrals. For instance, you can contact the International Dyslexia Association, or the Learning Disabilities Association (LDA). In addition, you may wish to contact your local school district to learn of any free tutoring services offered, or a local university that may have a list of teachers who also tutor.

Also, LD OnLine’s Yellow Pages service might be helpful.

The following links will give you contact information of organizations in your area that may be able to suggest tutors:

• LD Resources
• State Resources
• Directory of Parent Advocacy Groups
• Find a Professional

You may also want to ask the teachers and guidance counselor at your child’s school for suggestions for a tutor, since they will be familiar with his/her specific strengths and weaknesses. Local schools often know of great tutors located in the school’s neighborhood.

Lastly, be a good consumer in this process. Ask potential tutors about their experiences and what they specialize in before you choose a provider. You want to make sure that the person you choose will be a good match for your child.

My child was tested in kindergarten for dyslexia but they didn't find anything. What should I do now that he is in 3rd grade and still struggling with reading and writing?

It is sometimes challenging to detect learning difficulties in very young children. When your child was tested in kindergarten, he may have been able to compensate for his learning challenges to the point where there was little discrepancy between his ability and achievement. In order to be diagnosed with a learning disability, and therefore receive special education services, a child must exhibit both a processing deficit and a discrepancy between what he is capable of doing and what he is actually achieving in school.

As your child gets older, it may be increasingly difficult for him to compensate, so the gap between his ability and achievement may be widening. If your child does have a learning disability, it will be easier to detect now than when he was in kindergarten. The following articles describe characteristics common to children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. You may want to look through them to see if you recognize some of your child’s challenges in these descriptions:

• General Information About Dyslexia
• Dyslexia: Beyond the Myth
• How Do You Know If Your Child Might Have a Learning Disability?
• LD Basics

If you see some of these characteristics in your child, you may want to request that his school give him an educational evaluation. It is within your rights as a parent to request this free evaluation and to have a vote throughout the evaluation process.

The educational evaluation will help you and the school better understand your child’s academic strengths and weaknesses and how best he learns. The following articles will give you a clearer idea about the evaluation process:

• Basics for Parents: Your Child’s Evaluation

Please be sure to share any of the interventions that you have been trying at home and the concerns you have. The following articles may give you some ideas of how you can make the most of the local screening meeting and subsequent meetings throughout this process:

• How Parents Can Be Advocates for Their Children
• Advocacy in Action: You Can Advocate for Your Child!
• Some Common Sense Steps to Resolving Disagreements Between Parents and Schools

Your willingness to help your child at home will go a long way in giving him additional academic and emotional support, as well as the comfort in knowing that he is not alone in his struggles. This next group of articles suggest ways in which you and your child can work together at home:

• Figuring Out Written Words: Practical Ideas for Parents
• Tutoring Strategies for the Primary Grades
• Managing Your Child's Education: Creative and Smart Ideas
• By Car, Train, or Bus! The Sounds of Language On the Go
• Learning to Read, Reading to Learn

Remember that you can be the strongest and most knowledgeable advocate for your son, so trust your instincts and don’t give up! The sooner your son receives the assistance he needs and the quicker you and his teachers can work together to develop a plan for helping him at home and school, the better his outcome for truly reaching his academic potential.

My daughter just started preschool and I have noticed that sometimes she writes letters backwards. Should I be concerned?

Writing letters backwards is a normal part of developing writing skills in preschool. If you have other reasons to suspect dyslexia (like parents or relatives with dyslexia, or problems identifying sounds or learning to say the alphabet), you should continue to monitor her progress and document your observations in case you see signs of a bigger problem.

Keep practicing with her by doing fun writing activities at home, like writing a shopping list, or writing a letter to a relative. Most of her early mistakes will be part of the process of learning to write, so model the right way, but don't hold her to it too early! She is in an experimentation phase with this skill.

The Reading Rockets website has articles that may be of interest to you as you help your child learn to read, including sections on writing and developmental milestones.

Is there anything I can do at home to help my dyslexic child learn to read and spell?

Even though the English language is complex, dyslexic children CAN learn phonics! They need the support of a sequential, multisensory, structured reading program, and solid reading support at home (including reading together, playing games that isolate sounds or build words, etc.).

The Reading Rockets website focuses entirely on reading and how to help kids who struggle. See, for example, the section on strategies to help kids who struggle. Also check out this page for parents, which gives you tips on what you can do at home.

And here is a link to LD Online's collection of articles on dyslexia.

If my husband is dyslexic, is there a possibility that my children will be dyslexic too?

Dyslexia is a hereditary condition, so if you have a history of dyslexia in your family, it's a good idea to get information now so that you can catch early warning signs in your own children. However, children today do not have to struggle as much with their dyslexia as the generations before them. We have a greater understanding of what it means to be dyslexic and we know which educational interventions are most effective in helping these children learn to read.

The Reading Rockets web site is all about reading. Here are some articles on dyslexia that will help you identify signs and find help, so that even if your children are born with dyslexia, they will grow up to be readers!